We've discussed it on here many many many times over the years. I wonder where the breaking point is?

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HXqBpdziE/

I know it is not a popular take, but simply eliminating short term rentals would do wonders for home prices and affordability. The market up there has been out of control for a long time, and it isn't driven by the residents. If people were not able to offset the expenses of owning a second (or more) home in the high country by renting it out on short term basis, many of those people would not be able to purchase the homes in the first place. Without short term rentals the market would correct itself, sure there would still be plenty of people with vacation homes up there but not nearly as many as there are now. And yes, I get that short term rentals bring in tax money to the county/town, but I am simply talking about making housing more affordable.

I’d like to see that stat rerun for affordability of primary homes.

When the majority of new homes are built for buyers of second homes this is going to be the result.

Also assume college towns drive the average price up and Boone is probably the most extreme of those in NC given the ratio of students to other residents and the limited amount of land for housing. Chapel Hill is insane but at least you can go further away easier than you can in Boone. Certainly here again App expanding its undergrad enrollment made this worse by growing faster than housing can keep up at the same time as the sharp increase in the housing market.

Saint3333 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 31, 2026 4:22 pm

I’d like to see that stat rerun for affordability of primary homes.

When the majority of new homes are built for buyers of second homes this is going to be the result.

The problem with that stat is that these other types of home ownership are driving up all costs of home ownership so knowing the price of primary homes is kind of a moot point since they are heavily dictated by these other stats.

Price per sq.ft. of mountain view homes is well north of the in-town valley homes.

And in-town valley homes are not inexpensive. The ones that are inexpensive need at least 200k+ of repairs and/or renovations.